לויתן, Job iii, 8; xli, 1; Psalm lxxiv, 14; civ, 26; Isa.
xxvii, 1. The old commentators concurred in regarding the whale as the
animal here intended. Beza and Diodati were among the first to interpret
it the crocodile: and Bochart has since supported this last rendering
with a train of argument which has nearly overwhelmed all opposition,
and brought almost every commentator over to his opinion. It is very
certain that it could not be the whale, which does not inhabit the
Mediterranean, much less the rivers that empty themselves into it; nor
will the characteristics at all apply to the whale. The crocodile, on
the contrary, is a natural inhabitant of the Nile, and other Asiatic and
African rivers; of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness
in swimming; attacks mankind and the largest animals with most daring
impetuosity; when taken by means of a powerful net, will often overturn
the boats that surround it; has, proportionally, the largest mouth of
all monsters whatever; moves both its jaws equally, the upper of which
has not less than forty, and the lower than thirty-eight sharp, but
strong and massy, teeth; and is furnished with a coat of mail, so scaly
and callous as to resist the force of a musket ball in every part,
except under the belly. Indeed, to this animal the general character of
the leviathan seems so well to apply, that it is unnecessary to seek
farther.
xxvii, 1. The old commentators concurred in regarding the whale as the
animal here intended. Beza and Diodati were among the first to interpret
it the crocodile: and Bochart has since supported this last rendering
with a train of argument which has nearly overwhelmed all opposition,
and brought almost every commentator over to his opinion. It is very
certain that it could not be the whale, which does not inhabit the
Mediterranean, much less the rivers that empty themselves into it; nor
will the characteristics at all apply to the whale. The crocodile, on
the contrary, is a natural inhabitant of the Nile, and other Asiatic and
African rivers; of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness
in swimming; attacks mankind and the largest animals with most daring
impetuosity; when taken by means of a powerful net, will often overturn
the boats that surround it; has, proportionally, the largest mouth of
all monsters whatever; moves both its jaws equally, the upper of which
has not less than forty, and the lower than thirty-eight sharp, but
strong and massy, teeth; and is furnished with a coat of mail, so scaly
and callous as to resist the force of a musket ball in every part,
except under the belly. Indeed, to this animal the general character of
the leviathan seems so well to apply, that it is unnecessary to seek
farther.